Humans and Hunting
by AvianSunrise
Summary: Aragorn returns to Imladris after a long absence, and is uncertain of how his old foster family will react to his unexpected return. Meanwhile, groups of orcs are scouting the area and it's up to Aragorn and the twins to figure out what their plan is. Will they do so in time? And will they return home unscathed?
1. Musings in the Forest

A/N: Hello! So this is my first attempt at fanfics ever, and my first attempt at writing in a very, very long time. I'm not sure if anyone really reads/writes LOTR fanfic anymore, but if you're out there and you want to let me know what you think, I'd appreciate it! The story isn't done yet and I'm not sure exactly where I'll take it from here (I do have a general outline though, don't worry!), so any suggestions or input you have would be very welcome. This chapter is mostly to get my feet wet and writing out there.

I'm not an expert on Middle Earth by any means, so if I make any mistakes in geography or history, or whatnot, I apologize. Speaking of mistakes, this chapter/story is unbetad, so any grammar or spelling mistakes are mine although I tried my best to avoid them.

Also, I don't own any of this. That would be the wonderful JRR Tolkein. He's pretty cool :)

Chapter 1

Strider stooped down and brushed the flattened grass in front of him with his fingertips. Then he sat back on his heels, thinking.

He'd been on his way to return to Imladris when he'd gotten sidetracked by the trail of a party of Orcs, not too far from the border of the hidden valley where his childhood home lay. He wasn't sure why they were roaming this close, but it certainly wasn't good. Their trail seemed to purposefully skirt the areas that might be watched by the elves, which wasn't typical of the normally thickheaded brutes.

Their tracks seemed to indicate that there were about 20-30 in the group, a medium sized hunting party. But what were they hunting? And why? It was too small to be a real threat to the elves, but large enough to be of concern.

Strider knew he couldn't fight the Orcs on his own and it wouldn't do him any good to keep following them for now. He wouldn't be able to stop them, whatever it was they were doing. He stood and decided to continue on his path so that he could inform Lord Elrond upon his return.

Elrond. Strider had been with the Rangers for so long, he wasn't sure how his foster father would greet him upon his return. Truth be told, he'd always felt a little bit nervous around the older elf, even when he lived there. Returning after being gone so long only served to heighten man's anxiety. He could only imagine the elf's dispassionate eyes staring down at him, one eyebrow raised as he caught Strider with one hand in the cookie jar- both literally and figuratively. How many times had he tried to convince Elrond that human children required much more nourishment than elflings? And that cookies were a vital part of it.

Speaking of elflings, he was looking forward to seeing his foster brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, after such a long time apart. The two of them together were absolutely incorrigible, but it was nice to have some relief from the normally serious atmosphere that seemed to follow all elves around like a cloud. Strider grinned as he thought of the two of them arguing over some trivial matter- right now it seemed like music to his ears. Or at least it would be for the first five seconds.

His pace had slowed as he got lost in his musings. He was now getting deep into the forrest surrounding Imladris, and closer and closer to the doors that held his old family. The elves on patrol must have recognized him and decided not to stop him before he reached his destination. He would almost welcome a delay at this point, as he was all of a sudden not sure how Elladan and Elrohir would receive him either. Would they be angry he stayed away so long? Treat him like a stranger? He'd been in their lives such a short time, for elves. They measured time so differently from humans. Perhaps they had forgotten him already.

He shook his head impatiently. Of course they hadn't forgotten him! If the time he was with them had seemed short, then the time he was away would seem even shorter. Right?

He had reached the courtyard around the Last Homely House. He took a deep breath and reached out to knock on the giant doors.


	2. A Long Awaited Reunion

Before his hand could even graze the surface he hesitated. Did they want him here? Did HE want to be here? All the doubts that had been swirling around his mind before now boiled to the surface. He let his hand fall down to his side.

A mistake, that's what this was. He'd just go back to the Rangers now. No harm done.

The rational part of his mind whispered that the elves already knew of his arrival. Even if Elrond or the twins hadn't seen him already, they would hear of him. That he was here, and then he left without greeting them. Fled like a coward.

Still. Strider couldn't bring himself to face them, not anymore. Not like this. After so many years, could he just show up and expect things to pick up as they were?

He sighed and turned away, heading back to the forest. Back where he belonged.

He winced as he heard the door behind him fly open.

"Going somewhere?" A familiar voice drawled.

Strider turned slowly back around. Elladan was leaning against the doorframe, smirking.

His throat constricted at the familiar sight. He wanted to say something, but found that he couldn't. He stared at Elladan, uncertain- it had been so long!

Elladan's face softened as he witnessed Stider's struggle.

"Come here brother" He crossed the distance between them in a few short steps and embraced Aragorn tightly.

Strider fought to gain a hold over his emotions as he clung to Elladan. Once he had gained control again he stepped back and bowed slightly.

"It is good to see you again Lord Elladan. You look well."

Elladan raised an eyebrow at Aragorn's formality, looking very much a younger Elrond in that moment.

"Lord?" He asked incredulously "Lord? Never have you called me thus! Has it been so long Estel?"

Aragorn winced again. He didn't know where he stood, true, but calling Elladan "Lord" had been a mistake. He had never done so in the past, and to do so now... well it would only make the situation worse. Or rather, HAD made it worse. But it was too late now.

Luckily, an identical figure had stepped out behind Elladan and saved Aragorn further embarrassment.

"Estel!" Elrohir cried, rushing over to embrace him as well. "It has been much too long."

Aragorn again fought for control in the arms of his brother. What was wrong with him?

Elrohir stepped back and appraised his foster brother at arms length. "You are not wounded are you? Or ill? I know how fragile you humans can be."

Aragorn laughed shortly. They knew nothing of the frailty of humans. If they saw how desperate and dirty the ranger's camps were...

"I am well Elrohir, do not trouble yourself."

Elrohir started at the terseness of his tone, and glanced at Elladan who gave a barely perceptible shrug.

"Well don't just stand there little brother, come in!"

Strider trailed his foster brothers slowly into the house.

"We've kept your old room for you" Elrohir informed him. "In fact, I don't think anyone's been in it since you left. Except to clean- you can leave quite a mess little brother!"

"We were tempted to leave it for you, but Father insisted it be clean upon your return" Elladan added

Aragorn stiffened slightly at the mention of Lord Elrond. Noticing the movement, the twins shared a look quietly behind his back.

"Speaking of your return" Elrohir said lightly "Why has it been so long? We expected a visit long before this! We were beginning to think you'd forgotten all about us now that you're with the Rangers!"

Aragorn forced himself to relax and he laughed "Not quite! I fear it is you who have forgotten me!" It was said jokingly, but there was a bite of truth to his words.

However, both the twins cried out indignantly at his words.

"Forget about you? Never! We've done nothing but worry about you since your departure!"

"You could have at least written a letter! If not for the updates that Father gets from the ranger's camp, that at the very least said nothing of your demise, we would have been forced to send out search parties long ago!"

This last was from Elrohir, who from the look on his face seemed as though he thought the idea of sending out a search party was not, on the whole, a displeasing idea and one to file away for later use.

Aragorn smiled and apologized "I'm sorry my brothers, I was quite busy these last few months-"

"Years, apparently" muttered Elladan

Aragorn mock glared at him "As I was saying, I've been quite busy with the rangers and I haven't had the time to write or visit. However, if I may note, I haven't received word of any sort from you either!"

"WE are elven royalty. We haven't the time to go traipsing around the country side searching for shaggy, unwashed humans." Elrohir noted loftily

His suddenly dignified pose was quickly ruined by a sharp elbow to the ribs from Elladan.

"What he means to say is, he didn't want to ruin his pretty little outfit by getting DIRT on it, of all things. Rumor has it that can happen out in the wilderness. And his hand was cramped from writing out courtly invitations to young elven ladies. He couldn't possibly write you a letter."

Aragorn snorted at the thought of either of his brothers getting squeamish at the sight of dirt and writing flowery notes. He'd seen them covered from head to toe with mud, and that was on one of their better days!

Seeing his brother relax at the familiar banter, Elladan changed tactics "Would you like to put your things away in your room? I'm sure that Father would love to see you as soon as possible"

Strider shifted uncomfortably. "Of course, I'll just be a moment."

As he stepped into the room to put his pack down, one of the twins caught his arm "Estel? Is there something you aren't telling us? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just-"

Footsteps echoed down the hallway and the soft murmurings of two elves in council could be heard.

As the two elves rounded the corner, Estel looked over and was immediately caught in the disapproving gaze of Lord Elrond.

* * *

A/N: Sorry that these chapters are so short! And that it's getting off to a bit of a slow start- I promise the real action will start soon :)

Friendly Feanorian and Sandy-wmd ~ Thanks for the lovely reviews! They made my day :) I hope you enjoy this next chapter! And that you get your cookies!


	3. Geckos and Scones

Trapped under his foster father's critical eye, Aragorn wanted nothing more in that moment than to run and hide, yet he forced himself to stand tall and face his fears. His eyes held a fierce determination and his chin rose defiantly as he met Lord Elrond's gaze.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lord Elrond's eyes softened slightly and he nodded almost imperceptibly at Aragorn. The soft murmurings could again be heard as Lord Elrond continued down the corridor with the other elf, deep in conversation.

Strider gazed after him for a time, then shook his head slightly as if to clear it. He entered his room, where he briskly and efficiently began to unpack his few belongings.

"How long are you planning to stay?" Elrohir asked from the doorway.

"We shall see. A few days perhaps."

The twins protested at his words-

"But it's been so long since we last saw you! You must stay longer!"

"A week at the very least!"

"You need time to rest before traveling again- otherwise you'll spend more time on the road than you did at home!"

Aragorn sighed. They really were impossible sometimes. He tried to reason with Elrohir, the last one to speak, "The fact that it takes so long to travel just means that I will have to leave sooner to get back to the Rangers. I was not planning on leaving them for that long."

"The Rangers will be just fine- they survived quite nicely before you came along didn't they?" Elladan sagely pointed out.

"True, but still. If I do not return within a certain time frame they may begin to worry. These days it is not safe to travel alone."

"And yet you do it anyways. Come brother! If we do not get you for very long, let us as least enjoy the time that we do have!" And with that, Elrohir disappeared from the room.

Elladan smirked at Aragorn. "I suppose he wants us to follow him."

"I suppose he does."

The two of them sat thoughtfully for a moment before Elrohir's voice floated back towards them "Before I grow old, brothers!"

The two of them looked at each other and, sighing in resignation, headed off to see what Elrohir had in store for them.

* * *

The three of them passed most of the day together, talking and catching up on all that had happened during the time they had spent apart. Elladan and Elrohir regaled Aragorn with comical tales of their many adventures in Imladris and patrols of the surrounding area. More story than one ended with one elf or another cursing the day that they met the twins. While Aragorn was loathe to tell the twins the gory details of his time with the Rangers, he did have a few amusing stories to share with them about some of the men he commanded.

The twins were in the middle of a particularly enthralling tale involving Lord Glorfindel, a gecko, some raspberry jam, and a carefully placed pile of blankets.

"Oh, you should have seen his face Estel!" Elladan was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face.

"He'll never eat scones again!" Elrohir was in a similar state, helplessly clutching his sides.

Aragorn was also lost in laughter, trying to picture the normally dignified elf lord in such an uncharacteristic state.

"Ahem."

Aragorn and the twins whipped around.

Lord Elrond had appeared behind them silently and was staring patiently, one eyebrow quirked quizzically at the scene in front of him.

"Father! It's... good... to see you" Elladan choked out.

"None of you attended dinner, so I thought I might come check on you. It appears my concern was misplaced- perhaps I should be checking on Lord Glorfindel instead?" Lord Elrond's face was impossibly smooth.

"Ah. Yes. Well. We just wanted to keep Estel informed of the events that occurred while he was away?" Something about his father's sudden appearance made Elrohir's normally diplomatic tongue go dry.

"Indeed. Well I can see he is in good hands. How was the _long_ journey here Estel?" Lord Elrond asked rather pointedly.

"It was taxing. Very taxing. Perhaps I should retire for the evening?" Aragorn tried to guess what Lord Elrond was hinting at.

"That may be best. We wouldn't want to keep anyone up with your late night chatter, now would we?"

Elladan couldn't resist a small jibe "Indeed. We were just talking about how much our human brother needs all the rest he can get! Since he does not plan on staying that long, he should get it while he can."

Aragorn glared at Elladan before addressing Elrond "Actually, my lord, I was hoping to discuss a rather important matter with you this evening."

Elrond inclined his head "Let us adjourn to my study, we can discuss it more at length in there."

Aragorn nodded his assent and continued after the elven lord into the study while Elladan and Elrohir trailed behind, uninvited.

Once they arrived, Lord Elrond sat behind his desk and addressed Aragorn "What is this matter that is so important?"

Aragorn took one of the chairs across from the desk, while while the twins took up positions leaning against the wall near the door.

Aragorn shifted in his seat, feeling claustrophobic all of a sudden and not quite sure where to begin "As I was on my way here, I came across a party of Orcs near to-"

"Orcs!? Tell me you did not engage them in battle Estel!"

Elladan's concern was touching, yet unnecessary, reflected Aragorn "No, I did not. I simply encountered their tracks. It was a hunting party, no more than 20-30."

"It is not unusual to see Orcs about these parts- their presence is increasing throughout Middle-earth. It is concerning as a whole, but I fail to see the importance of one particular hunting party." Lord Elrond was inspecting one of the papers on his desk as he spoke.

"Indeed it would not be of importance, however I encountered their tracks after I had crossed the Bruinen. I do not think that they will be able to find their way down into the valley itself, but from what I read of their tracks that is what they are after. Never before have I seen Orcs use deliberate patterns to search for something, yet I can find no other explanation for the trail that I discovered. Not only that, but they appeared to be trying to evade notice by the elven guards."

Lord Elrond raised his head to look at his former ward. "This is concerning news indeed, then. We will need to investigate the matter. Can you locate the tracks again?"

"Father!" Elladan protested "You cannot send Estel out to chase after orcs after he has only just arrived! Have someone else look for them!"

Lord Elrond steepled his fingers together on the desk and tilted his head to look at Elladan "I cannot? How interesting. It would seem to me that he is the best person to do so as he was the one to find the trail in the first place. His skill as a tracker will be quite useful in this investigation."

Aragorn interjected "Yes, it should be relatively easy to do so. Once I find their trail, I can follow them for a time to see if there is a larger plan at work here."

"Excellent. The sooner we get this matter taken care of, the better. Can you leave tomorrow?"

"Yes, that should be fine." Aragorn stood and moved towards the door "I suppose this _human_ should get some rest then." This last comment was directed none too subtly at Elladan, who wasn't listening.

"We're coming with you."

"Excuse me?" Aragorn couldn't say he was entirely surprised at this turn of events. "You don't need to protect me any longer, you know. I've been on my own plenty, and this won't take long. I'll be back in a few days."

"That may be, in which case we-" Elladan gestured to himself and Elrohir "-will also be back in few days."

"Think of it as brotherly bonding time!" Elrohir appeared to be in support of Elladan's new idea "Since you do not deign to visit us often, we wish to spend this rare time actually with you."

Aragorn remain standing with his arms crossed, unconvinced.

"Besides" scoffed Elrohir "Humans and hunting- if we don't go with you, how will you ever succeed?"

Aragorn opened his mouth no respond with a no doubt incredibly witty retort, but was interrupted when Lord Elrond raised his hand, palm out.

"Peace. I think it is a good idea for the two of you to accompany him. However-" His gaze penetrated each and ever one of them "You must promise me that none of you, under any circumstances, will engage the orcs in battle. You are _only_ to gather information concerning their whereabouts and plans, and report back."

"Of course, Father!"

Elrond reflected that their nods of agreement and wide eyed, innocent looks were not altogether encouraging.

* * *

I hope everyone enjoyed this new chapter! If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know

Marchwriter- Thanks for the welcome! I reread those sections of the Hobbit and FOTR that you mentioned, and tried to include more information about the location of the orcs in relation to Imladris in this chapter. Hopefully this helped give more context? I still left it a bit vague, but may include more details later on.

NCISElf- Haha he does tend to lurk in this story! I hope I haven't written him too strict! I'm glad you like the story though :)

Viresse- Thanks! haha I had fun writing those parts! And now they're going on an orc-hunting trip together, so there will be plenty more opportunities for brotherly banter :)


	4. Just a Fall of Rain

**A/N:**

**So... "Real Life". It happens, I guess. Ya'll know how it goes. I also experienced a small(ish) crisis in which I was convinced that I knew nothing at all about LotR and couldn't possibly write a decent story about it. I'm trying to learn more, but there's just so much to know! So, please forgive any minor errors (although do let me know :) And if there are any big mistakes, let me know as well and I will do my best to fix them!**

**Also, I'm going to try to write longer chapters after this, but I wanted to get this one out here so you knew I hadn't given up :) Please try not to hate me for taking so long, and enjoy!**

**Thanks to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed the story! It definitely kept me going :)**

**Viresse: Thanks for reviewing! The action is coming pretty soon, I promise!**

**The NCISElf: Estel probably should sleep with one eye open when he's with the twins! It couldn't hurt, at the very least. And I would probably blame Glorfindel for the twins' pranks as well, although as he seems to be their target most of the time I think he got what he deserved... **

* * *

Strider glanced impatiently at the door. He was sitting in the courtyard rifling through his pack, double checking he had every thing he needed. Healing supplies (lots of them), cloak, change of clothes, lembas bread, water...

He replaced everything carefully and stood up, stretching. It was well past dawn, but there was no sign of either of the twins yet. Trust them to sleep in on a day like this.

He had only been at Imladris for a day, if that, yet already he was ready to return to the wilderness. His bed was simply too comfortable for his taste, and the corridors echoed suspiciously. He much preferred being out on the road.

He sighed as he strode briskly around the courtyard, loosening his muscles, and looked over at the horizon where the sun was only just beginning to emerge over the tops of the trees. In retrospect, perhaps "well past dawn" had been a slight exaggeration.

His patience, such as it was, was rewarded when the door swung open suddenly, and Elladan and Elrohir emerged. They both carried packs and wore comfortable traveling clothes.

Elladan glanced over at Aragorn and the corner of his mouth twitched- "Eager to get going, brother?"

"Enjoy your beauty sleep?" Aragorn shot back.

"Enough" Elrohir interjected, heading for the gate "We need to get going soon if we wish to scout out these orcs soon, especially as we are traveling on foot."

They had decided to forgo riding on horseback in exchange for the stealth of walking, as this would enable them to more easily observe the orcs unseen, and to quickly escape to the trees should it become necessary.

Elladan followed after Elrohir after only a quick glare in Aragorn's direction, a promise that their conversation would not be forgotten anytime soon. Aragorn just smiled as he trailed behind his two elven brothers into the surrounding woods.

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully as the three of them moved quickly to find the place Aragorn had last seen the Orcs. The journey that had seemed to take such a short amount of time when he had been dreading his destination now felt considerably longer. Not that he minded much, with both Elladan and Elrohir to keep him company.

The two elves in question were currently in the middle of an argument about exactly whose fault it was that Glorfindel found out that it was the twins who had let dozens of rabbits loose in his room.

"It was all your fault! Perhaps if you had not suddenly developed a taste for carrots several days earlier- stealing whole armfuls from the kitchen- he may never have known!" Elrohir exlaimed

"I think not, brother!" Elladan retorted "I believe it was the fur all over your so-called 'elegant evening attire' that tipped him off!"

"Oh no you don't-" Elrohir began his response, but Aragorn was no longer listening.

'Had there ever been any doubt it was them?' Aragorn wondered silently. He seriously doubted that there were any other elves Glorfindel had even considered blaming for the incident. He knew better than to voice this thought out loud though, for then what had been simple bickering between the twins would turn into an altogether unholy alliance against Aragorn. It had taken him many years to learn this, but the lesson finally stuck.

He was rather tired, he reflected, more so than usual since he had pushed himself rather hard at the beginning of his journey to reach Imladris. He didn't want to be away from the rangers any longer than necessary, and had only spent one short night in The Last Homely House before he and his brothers set out to search for the orcs. They had occupied most of the day searching for tracks, after they had climbed the steep path up out of the valley. They had found some old remnants of a trail, some distance from the beginnings of the track into the valley. This trail was somewhat confused though and had been washed away in part by rain, preventing them from following it to its source.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sky growled its dissatisfaction, and Aragorn noticed that dark clouds had moved in while he was distracted by the twins antics and his own musings.

Elladan glanced at the sky and half-smiled "We should find shelter for the night. I know it is only early evening yet, but we wouldn't want any humans present (who shall remain unnamed) to catch cold due to such unfortunate weather circumstances!" his voice was unnaturally cheery as Aragorn glared at him.

"Just because Elves can't become ill, doesn't mean they should flaunt it in front of other, clearly more inferior races." Aragorn grumbled. He would never trade his humanity to become one of the Fair Folk, but there were times when being human seemed cursed inconvenient. He did, however, thank the stars every day that he had some elvish blood in him, and could heal more quickly from wounds and the like.

Elrohir glanced over, smirking, "We are not _flaunting_ it per se, merely making sure you are aware of your own shortcomings. We wouldn't want you to become too egotistical. That's why you have us!" He seemed altogether too pleased at the prospect of ensuring Aragorn remained humble.

"I don't think there's any real concern of that happening." Aragorn remarked wryly, reflecting on his time in the camps of his people. If ever there was a place to humble a person, that was it. They could be dirty, unpleasant places- crowded, and full of the wounded and ill. They were filled with those lost to despair and suffering, fully aware of their lot in life.

Elladan and Elrohir sobered instantly, seeing the look on Aragorn's face, and knowing he had faced danger and very real reminders of his mortality without them with him. They exchanged a glance, full of sorrow and pain, then quickly turned away.

"Be that as it may," Elladan continued as if nothing had happened "We should start looking for a place to stay while we wait out this rain. Are there any caves about?"

Elrohir frowned in thought "I believe there is a shallow one up the road a bit. It should serve our purposes, for this rain does not promise to be a full-fledged storm."

Elladan glanced at the sky again "I believe you are right brother, let us make for this cave then!"

They quickened their pace in anticipation of the rain, and hurried towards the cave. Before they reached it, fat drops of rain began to fall. Slowly at first, then faster and faster it came down. The three tall figures moved swiftly and silently through the downpour, but were soon drenched.

Before too long they reached the place where the cave was, yet all of them paused for a moment on the road nearby. What had once been a shallow open cave, a perfect refuge for travelers, was now -quite simply put- a pile of rocks.

"Well this is... awkward" ventured Elrohir.

"That is one way of putting it." Aragorn agreed.

"I could have sworn..." Elrohir trailed off sheepishly. "I suppose I did hear something of a cave-in around this area not too long ago. Several dozen years perhaps?"

"It doesn't matter" interrupted Elladan "We will have to find another place to find refuge from this wretched rain. Are there any other caves nearby? Or places to seek shelter?"

"It has been many years" Elrohir murmered "There may be another a little cavern nearby, but I... I do not think it will be large enough. Perhaps a tree could provide some shelter for...?" He trailed off.

The reason for his sudden lack of ability to form coherent sentences was identical to him in face and stature, and staring in askance at the pouring sky. Aragorn was fairly certain he was muttering something along the lines of "Why, oh Valar help me, why was I cursed with such idiot brothers."

Elladan then looked pointedly at the ground beneath even the largest, leafiest tree. "Does that appear dry to you?" He asked Elrohir, sweetly and patiently. Too much so, even. Elrohir was forced to admit that no, no it did not look dry.

Elladan then looked pointedly at their human brother, who had already begun to shiver slightly from the cold rain (despite his best efforts to hide it), before he moved his gaze back to Elrohir. "I believe we need more shelter than a tree would be able to give us. considering there are Orcs about as well, somewhere. Otherwise we may as well continue walking throughout the night, and may indeed be better off for it."

Aragorn sighed wearily. He had traveled far to get to Imladris and had not gotten much rest the night before, preoccupied as he had been with talking to his two elven brothers.

"A tree would be fine, I swear it. I am not as fragile as you may think, and can afford to spend a night out in the rain!"

The two of them whipped their heads around toward him and quirked an eyebrow simultaneously. One day, Aragorn would have to ask them how they did it. Probably not today, he decided.


End file.
